- The name of my element is Phosphorus and its element number is 15. Yellow phosphorus can be purified by melting it underwater and treat it with a blend of potassium dichromate and dilute sulphuric acid. In 1669, a merchant named Henning Brand acquired phorsphorus through purified urine. The name phosphorus is a Greek origin meaning, "morning star.”
- The process of brainstorming print ideas was pretty easy for me. I researched was phosphorus was used for—which was mostly explosives, matches, and fireworks—and I came up with the idea of drawing a bomb with the fuse connecting to the element number, 15, and a P under it.
- To make our linoleum prints, we were supplied with 6x6 linoleum, cutters, and a cutting board. But before the cutting, we had to find our positive and negative places, draw our drawing, and trace it on the linoleum. After that, we started carving the linoleum with the cutter, remembering not to cut towards our fingers and ourselves. This process was kind of frustrating and time consuming but at the end it was worth it.
- When we were done carving, we were taught how to stamp the print on paper and let it dry. It liked this part the best because I can mix colors, make gradients and have fun. My favorite print that I made was a gradient. The top color was orange and at it goes down it turns yellow.
- If I were to do this next time, I would have spent more time and be more cautious with the carving because I felt that it wasn’t up to par and I could have done better.